Take the Montreal Cognitive Assessment that Trump took

President Donald Trump scored 30/30 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Take the test and find out how you would fareSource:Supplied

MUCH has been made of President Donald Trump’s allegedly deteriorating mental health.

So some may have been surprised to hear that the world’s most powerful septuagenarian scored 100 per cent on an internationally recognised test for cognitive ability.

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was created in 1996 as a screening tool for mild cognitive dysfunction, including early onset Alzheimer’s. It assesses concentration, attention, memory, language, calculations, orientation, executive functions and visual skills.

A variant of the test is available for illiterate subjects or those with a lower standard of education. It comprises 30 points and take 10 minutes to complete.

A normal score is considered to be 26 and above. Anyone scoring lower than 26 would require further investigation of their cognitive skills.

The average score is 27.4. Those with a mild cognitive impairment score an average of 22.1 while Alzheimer’s patients tend to score around 16.

President Trump scored a perfect 30/30. How would you fare?

THE TEST

1. ALTERNATING TRAIL MAKING (five points)

Part one: Match five numbers (1-5) with five letters (A-E) in ascending order (pairing 1 with A, 2 with B, etc).

The subject gets a point for every successful pair. No lines can be crossed. The subject earns 0 if they make a mistake that is not immediately corrected.

Match five numbers (1-5) with five letters (A-E) in ascending order (pairing 1 with A, 2 with B, etc). Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

Part 2

Draw your own version of the cube in the space next to it. It must be exactly the same as the one printed on the page.

You get one point if it’s drawn correctly. That means it must be three-dimensional with no lines missing or added, the lines must be relatively parallel and similar in length. No point is given if any of those criteria are missing).

You get one point if it’s drawn correctly. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

Part 3

Draw a clock, including all of the numbers, and set the time to 10 minutes past 11.

One point is allocated for each of the following three criteria:

Contour: The clock face must be a circle with only minor distortion acceptable (i.e. slight imperfection on closing the circle).

Numbers: All clock numbers must be present with no additional numbers; numbers must be in the correct order and placed in the approximate quadrants on the clock face. Roman numerals are acceptable. Numbers can be placed outside the circle contour.

Hands: There must be two hands jointly indicating the correct time; the hour hand must be clearly shorter than the minute hand. Hands must be centred within the clock face with their junction close to the clock centre.

A point is not assigned for a given element if any of the above-criteria are not met.

4. NAMING (three points)

Name each animal pictured. One point is received for each animal correctly named.

Trump was successfully able to name each animal. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

5. MEMORY (No points are given. However, one point is deducted for each missing word)

The subject is read a list of words that they must remember.

They must repeat as many of the words as they can recall, in any order they like.

The examiner then reads five words aloud at a rate of one per second: FACE, VELVET, CHURCH, DAISY, RED

As the subject recites the words, the examiner marks a check in the box for each word said aloud. The subject indicates when they have recalled all they can.

The test is repeated twice.

6. ATTENTION (Six points)

Part 1: The subject is read a list of numbers at a rate of one number per second. They must then recite them in forward order for one point and backwards order for a second point.

Part two: The subject is read a list of letters “F B A C M N A A J K L B A F A K D E A A A J A M O F A A B” at a rate of one per second. Every time they hear the letter “A”, they must tap their hand.

Part three: Starting at 100, the subject is asked to count down by subtracting by seven every time until the examiner tells them to stop.

The subject starts at 100, then must count down by subtracting seven every time, until the examiner tells them to stop, ie: “93, 86, 79, 72, 65 ...”

No points are given if there are no correct subtractions. One point is given for just one correct subtractions and two or three correct subtractions earns two points.

7. LANGUAGE (three points)

Part 1: The examiner reads the following sentence out loud: “I only know that John is the one to help today” and the subject must repeat it exactly.

The test is repeated with a second sentence: “The cat always hid under the couch when dogs were in the room”.

One point is given for each sentence repeated absolutely verbatim.

Part 2:

The examiner reads out a letter (F), and the subject has to think of as many words as they can that begin with that letter. The aim is to reach 11 words or more in 60 seconds. The words cannot be proper nouns, such as names of people or places, or the same word with different suffixes (eg: live, lived, living).

One point is given if 11 or more words are listed within one minute.

Trump received a perfect score on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)Source:Supplied

9. ABSTRACTION (two points)

The subject has to describe what certain pairs of words have in common (eg, an orange and a banana; a train and a bicycle; a ruler and a watch). One point is given for each of the last two pairs.

For example an acceptable answer would be to describe a train and a bicycle a forms of transport but an unacceptable answer would be to say they both had wheels.

10. DELAYED RECALL (five points)

The subject has to recall all the words they heard earlier (FACE, VELVET, CHURCH, DAISY, RED).

One point is granted for each word remembered without prompting.

11. ORIENTATION(six points)

The subject is asked to state the present date, month and year, and the name of the place they are in as well as the city.

One point is given for each correct answer.

WHAT YOUR SCORE MEANS

(Those who have had less than 12 formal years of education should add one point to their final score).